I hope that butterfly is very effective.

I wouldn't even begin to know how to attempt to splint a butterfly wing, good on the woman and good on the trucker that took it to FL.

One Christmas a friend had two family members bring gifts from South America and the South Pacific, respectively. (grammatically trying here, not enough coffee yet). A chrysalis had hitched a ride with one of the groups of gifts and they had a bright blue butterfly 'hatch' sometime after new years. It was cool to be over there visiting and see the thing light on top of a lampshade and flutter it's wings. It lived on through March. How awesome to have a butterfly as a house pet.

I went looking online and apparently there are businesses that will ship you a chrysalis as a home science experiment or whatever. I called the local butterfly house and the woman that answered got biatchy about that and somehow insinuated that it was bad for the environment / and or the butterfly... anybody know about that or done it?

Don't know why but this was the first thing I thought of:

While on holiday in Kenya and walking through the bush a man comes across an elephant standing with one leg raised in the air.

The elephant seems distressed so the man approaches very carefully. He gets down on one knee and inspects the bottom of the elephant's foot only to find a large thorn deeply imbedded.

As carefully and as gently as he can he removes the thorn and the elephant gingerly puts its foot down. The elephant turns to face the man and stares at him intently. For a good ten minutes the man and elephant stand transfixed. Eventually the elephant turns and walks away.

For years after the man often remembers and ponders the events of that day...

One day the man is walking through the zoo with his son. As they approach the elephant enclosure, one of the elephants turns and walks over to where they are
standing at the rail. It stares at him and the man can't help wondering if this is the same elephant.

The man climbs tentatively over the railing and makes his way into the enclosure. He walks right up to the elephant and stares back in wonder. Suddenly the elephant wraps its trunk around one of the man's legs and swings him wildly back and forth along the
railing, instantly killing him.

Must not have been the same elephant then.

DocsInOKC: Don't know why but this was the first thing I thought of:

While on holiday in Kenya and walking through the bush a man comes across an elephant standing with one leg raised in the air.

The elephant seems distressed so the man approaches very carefully. He gets down on one knee and inspects the bottom of the elephant's foot only to find a large thorn deeply imbedded.

As carefully and as gently as he can he removes the thorn and the elephant gingerly puts its foot down. The elephant turns to face the man and stares at him intently. For a good ten minutes the man and elephant stand transfixed. Eventually the elephant turns and walks away.

For years after the man often remembers and ponders the events of that day...

One day the man is walking through the zoo with his son. As they approach the elephant enclosure, one of the elephants turns and walks over to where they are
standing at the rail. It stares at him and the man can't help wondering if this is the same elephant.

The man climbs tentatively over the railing and makes his way into the enclosure. He walks right up to the elephant and stares back in wonder. Suddenly the elephant wraps its trunk around one of the man's legs and swings him wildly back and forth along the
railing, instantly killing him.

Must not have been the same elephant then.

Dude. That was awesome.

JustinCase:

I went looking online and apparently there are businesses that will ship you a chrysalis as a home science experiment or whatever. I called the local butterfly house and the woman that answered got biatchy about that and somehow insinuated that it was bad for the environment / and or the butterfly... anybody know about that or done it?

It is generally a bad idea to introduce species into areas where they don't live naturally. If your pet butterfly escapes and finds another, it could disrupt the entire local butterfly/moth ecosystem. Don't laugh--a lot of the pretty bushes, plants, animals, that you're used to seeing where you live are actually invasive pests. And to establish themselves, they probably wiped out other species that belong there.

it is a huge problem, and a lot of people don't have a clue that it exists, unless they're looking at a hill full of kudzu or something obvious like that.

Would make a tasty snack for a hungry trucker.

Good job numbnuts. Now there's going to be another tsunami in Indonesia.

Was it this trucker?

fatal_exception: Good job numbnuts. Now there's going to be another tsunami in Indonesia.

Sweet, finally my virus can infect people via water.

I just watched a horrible program about the African Clawed Frog and some fungus it introduced that is killing cute American frogs.

I'm sad.

DocsInOKC: Don't know why but this was the first thing I thought of:

While on holiday in Kenya and walking through the bush a man comes across an elephant standing with one leg raised in the air.

The elephant seems distressed so the man approaches very carefully. He gets down on one knee and inspects the bottom of the elephant's foot only to find a large thorn deeply imbedded.

As carefully and as gently as he can he removes the thorn and the elephant gingerly puts its foot down. The elephant turns to face the man and stares at him intently. For a good ten minutes the man and elephant stand transfixed. Eventually the elephant turns and walks away.

For years after the man often remembers and ponders the events of that day...

One day the man is walking through the zoo with his son. As they approach the elephant enclosure, one of the elephants turns and walks over to where they are
standing at the rail. It stares at him and the man can't help wondering if this is the same elephant.

The man climbs tentatively over the railing and makes his way into the enclosure. He walks right up to the elephant and stares back in wonder. Suddenly the elephant wraps its trunk around one of the man's legs and swings him wildly back and forth along the
railing, instantly killing him.

Must not have been the same elephant then.

That was a hell of a setup.

taaaaaaaaaaake
these broken wings....

/god damn it

Lars The Canadian Viking: Was it this trucker?

very good.

cryinoutloud: it is a huge problem, and a lot of people don't have a clue that it exists,

Thanks for replying, I couldn't get past the woman's outrage to understand what she was saying. So then, what about picking one that is native to your zip code? and only releasing during the 'right time' (if at all)?

/I understand that this seems to be totally unregulated, but maybe you could participate in a responsible way...

Make sure to only look at the butterfly through a mirror.

You don't want it to eat your mind.

THAT CARELESS BIATCH. Ashton Kutcher's going to lose his arms in an explosion now. Or kill himself before he was born.

/can't possibly be obscure

Jesus, lady, go work in an orphanage or something and spend your time helping human beings with an expected life span of 80 years rather than a bug with a maximum lifespan, egg to grave, of 12 weeks.

I stand by my theory that if butterflies did not have their beautiful wings, nobody would give a fark about their migratory path, or nursing the back to health.

Don't the butterflies usually die en route to their migratory destinations?

cryinoutloud: JustinCase:

it is a huge problem, and a lot of people don't have a clue that it exists, unless they're looking at a hill full of kudzu or something obvious like that.

In Florida we have Brazilian pepper trees. I have no idea what the state would look like without them.

"What could possibly go wrong?"

Did something go wrong?

I feel the tears of joy welling up inside me.

Nursing THEM, back to health, that is.

Approve

/link may be hot

never bought a butterfly in a chrysalis before. Usually just caught the caterpillars and fed them until they went into the chrysalis and then hatched...then I'd set them free. Caterpillars are slow. Easy to catch for a 7-year old.

While introducing them to non-native areas CAN be dangerous...it's only dangerous if you do it with a LOT of insects, usually. 1 or 2 are usually beaten back by nature. There are exceptions where cross breeding can occur, and you should probably take it into account. In the case of the Monarch butterfly, though, which is a migratory species...it's probably not gonna hurt it too much.

Loved the elephant story.

Form the comments in the article:

retnavychief wrote:
There is a God and he has manifested Himself again.

I can't wrap my brain around how anything in this story would lead to this conclusion.

Farfala vendetta!

Lars The Canadian Viking: Was it this trucker?

When I was a kid, Large Marge frightened me .

kg

Damn you! 16 seconds!

It's a friggin butterfly!

You can't place faith in material things
material things will fail you
a hurricane triggered by a butterfly's wings
your conspirators betray you

/Obscure?
//Didn't want to post the whole song

I would have never imagined that you could splint a butterfly's wing! That's awesome. I'd think it would be too fragile to fix.

It reminded me of something my grandfather did years ago. My grandparents had a huge flower garden that started in front of the house and wrapped around the back to their deck. One day my grandpa saw a little hummingbird plow beak-first into their glass door and break its beak. He noticed the same bird try for a couple of days to drink from the flowers with no luck. Somehow, he managed to catch the little guy in a pillowcase and get it in the house, and the bird was actually calm enough to let my grandpa use nail clippers to snip off the broken end so the bird's tongue could get thru and he could drink again.

I've been amazed for years that not only could he catch the little bugger, but that it would allow him to do that. Most wild animals are too scared to cooperate for something like that.

I think I hit it on my way home yesterday. Oh well. They should have never let it go free!

Bullshiatter: A butterfly bit my sister møøse once.

FTFY

JustinCase:

I went looking online and apparently there are businesses that will ship you a chrysalis as a home science experiment or whatever. I called the local butterfly house and the woman that answered got biatchy about that and somehow insinuated that it was bad for the environment / and or the butterfly... anybody know about that or done it?
well.. the lady was a bit rude, but overall she's right.

however, yes, Back in elementry school my class got one of those things as a class project. If I recall correctly, the Butterflies that hatched were regionaly appropriate.
kinda like this thing (new window)but I remember the one we had was made of cardboard, with plastic windows, and cotton stalks soaked with sugar water for food.

It's a friggin BUTTERFLY!

What do they live, 6 hours or so?

DocsInOKC: Must not have been the same elephant then.

I believe it was the same elephant. Probably killing him for getting the thorn out so he was deemed healthy enough for captivity. What a bastard.

/it's friday

Lars The Canadian Viking: Was it this trucker?

+1 for Large Marge and Peewee reference.

Obviously voted O.

Thanks submitter, I really enjoyed this story. Good deeds shouldn't depend on the size of the being that needs it.

Did anyone else see the story on the right hand side of the page about the man who tortured a young child by shoving the hook end of a coat hanger down its throat? WTF is WRONG with some people? I'd like to take the hook end of a coat hanger and shove it up his arse.

/and twist, twist, twist

permanenthursday
I stand by my theory that if butterflies did not have their beautiful wings, nobody would give a fark about their migratory path, or nursing the back to health.

There is a name for this concept: charismatic species. Usually applies to the way that we direct conservation efforts -- people want to save the whales, but no one gives a fark about endangerd slime molds.

Bullshiatter: A butterfly bit my sister once.

permanenthursday: I stand by my theory that if butterflies did not have their beautiful wings, nobody would give a fark about their migratory path, or nursing the back to health.

Survival of the fittest?

Nobody suspects the butterfly.

mwuhha ha ha